Mortgage Lenders Face Climate Risk - Barron's
Mortgage Lenders Face Climate Risk | Barron's
Mortgage Lenders Face Climate Risk. Why It Might Be Worse Than Insurers.
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A man stands in front of his destroyed house in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla, in 2022. Ricardo Arduengo/Getty Images
The U.S. housing market is facing increasing risks from more frequent and damaging natural disasters. While insurers are the first to endure the losses, the mortgage industry might be in a more pr...
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”